Chasing The Horizon
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Chell and Wheatley thought they were done after escaping... but they had no idea that their adventure together was far from finished. (Co-written with Cry-Of-A-Warp-Engine)
1. Reaching Out To Others

Chell wasn't sure where they were past the cornfield… but when she and Wheatley did reach an area that was more city and less rural, she was even more confused.

"Right… well, thankfully that big ol' Enrichment Center down there has excellent Wi-Fi even above the ground… and I can confirm that those things are cars, on those four grey I entered black wheels there… or tires, apparently…" Wheatley said as he briefly rolled his optic back to look at the nearby road, where cars were passing, their lights on as the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon.

"Any idea… where we might be?" Chell asked, her voice croaky from going so long without a word being spoken… but Wheatley saw it as a sign that she was trusting him enough to talk.

"Texas, I think… maybe a little further up than that. Chell, you don't look alright." Wheatley responded.

"I just… I don't feel so good, Wheatley… my head hurts." Chell replied, Wheatley running his processors, 'thinking'.

"Hmm… could be exposure to the sun after so long underground… or it could be something far worse, after so long you might not have much of a resistance to the ol' coughs and sneezes." Wheatley responded a few moments later, before his optic glanced at the portal gun. "Possibly even too much exposure to that… not many people exactly survive long enough to record long term effects."

"Take time to build it back up…" Chell said as they saw a sign that read Laredo city limits. "Looks like you were right." She replied as they saw a poster advertising WWE Raw, Laredo Energy Arena, 9/21/15. "What's today's date?" She asked.

"September 19th 2015." Wheatley replied as they reached a nearby ER and walked in.

"I just lost my balance, it happens." Amanda said as Finn helped her sit back down on the gurney, Amanda having taken an overly stiff dropkick to her back at an NXT live event and had trouble getting back up at first.

"I know it happens but it doesn't mean the fall is any lighter." Finn responded, standing up off the gurney again after a moment.

"It would help if Liv knew how to properly use a dropkick against an opponent." Amanda muttered, Finn knowing that she was frustrated.

"Everyone learns it at different paces… but you seem rather upset." Finn said quietly, rubbing her left shoulder.

"Liv got in Dianne's face, not sure about what… I just saw her yelling at and hitting our friend and tried to stop it." Amanda answered.

"We all try to protect our friends, those close to us… sometimes it doesn't go so well. But hey… you did stop the fight, there's that to it." Finn replied.

"Yeah, I just wish Liv wasn't so high strung at times." Amanda said as Finn sat down and she leaned against him, his right arm wrapping around her as Wheatley watched them.

"Close people… they're right, you know. Things sometimes don't go to plan." Wheatley said with his volume turned down, Chell nodding as she was holding him most of the time, but as per his suggestion, had placed him down in a nearby chair to give her tired arms a rest, along with the ASHPD placed in the next chair beside him.

"You think she'll be okay?" Chell asked.

"I would think so… but I'm no psychiatric expert. I'm a maintenance core… _apparently_ formerly an intelligence dampening unit, but I'm not sure how much of 'her' words we should believe." Wheatley answered, referring to when GLaDOS told them that she remembered Wheatley's voice from an intelligence dampening sphere she had attached to her before Chell had halfway destroyed her before.

Chell nodded and kept an eye on Amanda, who seemed not to notice… but Chell noticed that her legs were fidgeting slightly.

"Wheatley… she seems rather upset." Chell said quietly.

"From what I heard them talking about, someone hurt her for trying to protect her friend from being hurt. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that'd upset a few people, getting harmed for doing the right thing." Wheatley replied, turning his optic to look at her, offset a tiny bit as the large crack down the middle blurred the center, so he looked out of the area midway towards the side to see her clearly.

Chell turned to the reception desk and saw a tall man walk in, glancing back at Amanda and then back at the man… it was clear they had a lot of resemblance to each other except for Amanda's hazel eyes.

"You find her yet, John?!" Another man asked as he ran in, John turning to him.

"Not yet, Sami. Now you said the dropkick was right to the back?" John replied.

"It was hard to see exactly but it was to her back, whether it was to the sides of it or the spine area, I couldn't tell." Sami answered.

John and Sami found Amanda and walked into the room, both carefully hugging her as the doctor walked in.

"Well from what the MRI showed, there's no damage to the spine or neck… the X rays showed a few cracked ribs though, which should heal in a few weeks." The doctor explained.

"So she doesn't have to stay overnight?" John asked.

"For a few more hours while we process things and examine a couple more of the tests, the bloods and such. But she should be home possibly even by midnight." The doctor answered.

John nodded and the doctor left to check on Chell.

"You poor thing, you look like you haven't slept or eaten in a while." The doctor said as she helped Chell sit down, Chell seeing that she was around the same age as her but had light brown hair instead.

"I lost track of how long I was where I was…" Chell responded as the doctor examined her.

"Seems like it was hectic, wherever it was." The doctor said, as she found a long scratch across the back of Chell's shoulders which had already started on its natural healing path, caused when Chell had fallen through the floor in the old, overgrown chamber from the original course, when she'd gone to find the single portal device and the panels had collapsed.

"It was… I don't think I could ever bring myself to go back." Chell replied, before she hissed as the doctor found another wound, this one a bit deeper than simply a scratch, near her right hip from where she'd tripped over during one of the tests and cut herself on some broken glass, as the chambers were still only halfway repaired at that point. "I think there's a burn too, on my leg… acid…" She said, pointing out her left leg where she'd felt a sharp stinging as she'd been stood too close when a Weighted Storage Cube had splashed into an acid pool.

"It's gonna take some stitches to close up completely, are you allergic to any medicine, miss?" The doctor replied.

"Not that I know of." Chell answered, glancing at Wheatley, who had closed his optic guards to appear like he was merely some sort of damaged device and not a self-aware A.I construct.

Once the wound was closed up and Chell was on an IV and blood pressure machine, she started to feel sleepy.

And she leaned back and closed her eyes, the gurney being the most comfortable thing she'd slept on in a long time.


	2. Sleep Should Clear The Mind

_**NXT/Main Roster tour, September 2015...**_

 _Later into the night at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Hotel and around 11pm, Amanda and Finn were at the hotel bar, both laughing and both a bit drunk._

" _I'm not kidding, Batista tried to jump off of the hotel bar in Toronto." Amanda responded, finishing her third glass of red wine as Finn finished his fourth beer._

" _He must've been crazy drunk… not like you and me now, lass. We're relaxed." Finn replied, wrapping an arm around Amanda's shoulders._

 _And thanks to both of their phones being on sleep mode, Amanda and Finn were unaware of the media storm currently happening._

 _Hollywood Swinging by Kool And The Gang started to play, Finn lightly dragging Amanda out onto the floor and the two dancing, Amanda hanging onto Finn as one of his hands rested on her lower back and the other lightly squeezed Amanda's right hip._

" _Getting playful there, lad?" Amanda questioned in a low tone, Finn chuckling._

" _Who wouldn't with you, lass?" Finn answered in the same low tone as they kept dancing. They were both drunk, their inhibitions quiet… and when wrestlers get drunk, they say and do things they wouldn't even think of when sober._

 _One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by George Thorogood started to play and Finn turned Amanda around so her back was pressed against him and so they were dancing differently, Finn's right hand resting on Amanda's right thigh and his left arm wrapped around her waist as she rested her hands on his arms._

 _To anyone who didn't know them, Finn Balor and Amanda Cena were acting like naughty teenagers at the prom. Enzo Amore, another NXT wrestler, knew them however._

 _Enzo took a picture of Amanda and Finn and sent it to Colin 'Big Cass' Cassady with the text 'Look what I found them doing, bud.'._

' _Holy hell, they're gonna have wicked hangovers tomorrow.' Cass replied as Amanda and Finn now danced to Self Control by Laura Branigan._

' _Gonna go find Sami and tell him what our friends are up to. Catch ya tomorrow.' Enzo replied before leaving._

 _Amanda and Finn continued to enjoy themselves and getting lost in the music and their drunkenness… there were times that people truly needed to let all their inhibitions and restrictions go._

 _And this was one of those times._

 _It was a few days later at a house show that Finn quickly turned away from his conversation with Dash Wilder when both heard a door slamming open and Seth and Amanda screaming at each other before the locker room door was slammed shut, Dash turning to leave._

" _What, no help?" Finn asked._

" _Mandy can get kind of aggressive and that usually results in a kick to the balls for mostly every male in this company… well, except you." Dash answered, quickly leaving and Finn walking towards where Amanda was._

 _As per usual after a bad argument, Amanda was repeatedly slamming her left foot into a equipment crate when Finn walked over and carefully stopped her._

" _Did he break up with Zahra and is taking it out on you?" Finn asked._

 _Amanda let out a small nod, too upset to even speak… Finn's arms encircled around her tiny frame, pulling her close to him and the two hugged, Amanda resting her head on his right shoulder._

 _Stopping at the edge of the hallway, Enzo saw them holding each other and both saw him._

" _Something happen, kids?" Enzo asked._

" _Just a bad day, buddy." Amanda explained, Enzo nodding._

 _She would tell him in her own time, Enzo knew that…_

 **Present time…**

"You okay there?" Chell asked quietly after opening her eyes, noticing that Wheatley was watching her.

"This… place, it reminds me a bit of the building before things fell apart." Wheatley answered.

"It is sorta similar… like the back office areas, between the observation rooms in the test chambers." Chell replied, Wheatley moving his optic around in a motion of nodding in agreement.

"Yes, like them… though obviously less of the giant potato plants growing right up into the ceiling." Wheatley responded… and widened his optic shutters right out and narrowing the optic itself halfway in surprise as he heard Chell let out a quiet, quick laugh as she remembered the multiple potato batteries in the old 'Bring Your Daughter To Work Day' stand they had found, most of the old potatoes rotted but one on the end had thrived and had grown massive sprouts up through the ceiling, following the daylight.

At the same time, Finn watched as Amanda was asleep, having given into the drowsiness that was from the painkillers… he reached over, brushing his left hand over her right wrist and looking up, seeing Enzo.

"Hey… sorry about what Liv did out there." Enzo said quietly.

"It wasn't your fault… how's Dianne holding up?" Finn responded, Enzo sitting down in another chair nearby.

"She's okay… she did lose a tooth in the fight, but that's about the worst she got. Mandy did prevent a good deal more damage than was let to happen." Enzo answered.

"She can be very protective of those she cares about." Finn said quietly, Enzo lightly brushing his fingers over Amanda's back and noticing her twitch slightly before reaching his hand up to her hair and lightly brushing it back as Amanda's eyes opened and she saw him.

"Hey, it's alright… just stopped by to check on you, kiddo." Enzo responded, helping Amanda sit up.

"How long was I out?" Amanda asked, letting out a sleepy yawn as Finn rested his right hand on her upper back… the last time she felt this out of it was the night that Jeff Hardy's pyro went off at the wrong time and caused him to toss her out of the way, which jarred her back.

"A good few hours. You needed it though, we don't always get the chance to sleep on the road for that long." Finn answered, lightly rubbing his hand around her upper back area now, at the backs of her shoulders.

"Too many hours without it makes us…" Amanda said before noticing that Enzo had the script for the upcoming episode of Raw with him. "I guess someone's turning bad?" She asked.

"Paige and in it… there are a few scripted shots at you two." Enzo explained, Finn and Amanda looking at each other before Enzo handed it to Amanda and she read it.

"She doesn't know that you took this, right?" Amanda questioned.

"I hope not." Enzo answered simply, but it was one which spoke for itself beyond that.

Amanda was looking through it again when Finn was driving back to the hotel and both had noticed that Enzo wasn't with them.

"Where the hell is he?" Amanda asked quietly.

"Maybe took a wrong turn or got stuck at some traffic lights." Finn replied as he looked out along the street.

At the same time, Chell and Wheatley left the hospital with Enzo.

"And you're sure we'll be safe with you?" Wheatley asked.

"Strong people, kind people. You'll be quite safe around us… Though some might take a little shock to seeing you." Enzo answered, the last part as he glanced at the ASHPD he was carrying for Chell, so she could properly hold Wheatley rather than suspend him from the gun's gravity arms, which she never honestly trusted.

Chell looked around and had a feeling their adventure would get crazier.


	3. Always That Kind Of Night

Shawn walked into the parking lot and over to the car, Finn getting out.

"She fell asleep again." Finn said quietly, Shawn seeing that Amanda was indeed asleep.

"Once you pop, you really can't stop, as Pringles say… same goes for getting needed sleep." Shawn replied with a slight joke.

"Especially when Enzo's crazy girlfriend dropkicked her in the back." Finn responded as he opened the passenger door and picked Amanda up into his arms, Shawn getting her things from the car.

When they were in the hotel room, Shawn walked over and sat down, brushing Amanda's hair back… her hazel eyes opened, Shawn smiling slightly.

"I don't think Liv ever liked me." Amanda said quietly.

"Some people just simply don't get along. Or maybe they feel rivaled by one another, she might think you endanger something she has." Shawn replied.

"I only think of Enzo as a brother… he said when he was growing up, he always wanted a little sister." Amanda responded, Shawn kissing her on her forehead.

"Some people just don't see that as the truth… and it never goes well when it happens." Shawn replied after he moved back from her.

Amanda sat up carefully, her legs and arms shaking slightly, which reminded Shawn of how he was after breaking his back in 1998… and Shawn noticing the nearby script.

"You didn't get that from Hunter, did you?" Shawn asked.

"Enzo swiped it." Finn answered, slowly helping Amanda up to her feet and Amanda going to get ready to go to sleep. "I think in an attempt to give Mandy a heads up about some upcoming changes." He said.

Down on the second floor, Enzo set Wheatley on the table in the room as Chell sat down on the second bed.

"You're a heavy old ball, you are." Enzo said, Wheatley's optic light expanding out fully.

"Ball?! I'm a core!" Wheatley responded, Enzo laughing a bit.

"He's telling the truth…" Chell said with a slight laugh. "Hey, is your friend gonna be alright?" She asked.

"I should think so. There's plenty of people who care about her, we're all one big family in this business." Enzo answered, looking at the portal device. "How does this thing exactly work then? It's a strange gun…"

Chell stood up and walked over, picking up the gun and holding onto the handle at the back with her other hand resting underneath it nearer to the front. She powered it up, a white light appearing in the glass cylinder before she pointed it at the wall, firing a blue energy ball… Enzo stepped back with wide eyes as the blue portal spread out across the wall, appearing cloudy inside as the orange hadn't been opened yet.

"Holy hell…" Enzo said, amazed.

"Pretty damn cool, huh?" Wheatley asked.

"It's very cool… but I get the feeling it's not just to decorate the room." Enzo answered, Chell glancing at Wheatley before she pointed at one of the other walls of the room and fired the orange portal, the cloudy blue one opening up to look through out of the orange, as though it were simply a door into another room, except that through here Enzo, Chell and Wheatley could see themselves.

And then Enzo thought of an idea.

"Can those portals make other rooms visible through the walls?" Enzo asked.

"Yes… But the other side can see through as well. Literally, they're just intra-dimensional doorways, and can be travelled and looked through like them." Wheatley explained.

Enzo was thinking and Chell aimed the gun across the hall… when Alexa saw them, she shrieked in terror and jumped back.

"Just fucking around, Bliss! Relax!" Enzo shouted joyfully, Alexa flipping him off and Chell shutting the gun off.

"What's the deal with that one?" Chell asked.

"She's got one hell of a short fused temper. That… Does shut off the portals, doesn't it?" Enzo replied.

"Yes… When the singularity is cut off in the shutdown, the portals lose their link and just… Shatter, I guess." Chell answered, placing the gun back down on the table.

It was early into the next morning before the sun was rising that Amanda's eyes snapped open as she jumped, Finn opening his eyes and reaching over and rubbing his right hand up and down her back.

"Didn't mean to wake you…" Amanda whispered.

"Hey, it's alright Darlin'. You didn't have a good night, clearly." Finn replied, Amanda turning to look at him.

"I shouldn't be thinking the worst without trying to straighten things out… last time I felt like this, I stopped speaking to a friend because his storyline as a cult leader creeped me out. I even tried to talk him out of it… didn't go well." Amanda said as the two embraced each other.

 _ **March 16th 2010, WWE SmackDown Taping set to air March 19th 2010…**_

" _Fine, I'll just admit it, you're acting like a modern day version of Charles Manson! And it's creeping me out!" 19 year old Amanda responded once they were backstage, which startled Phil Brooks, better known to the wrestling world as CM Punk. "I'm sorry, Phil… but I'm gonna ask creative to end my involvement in this storyline, I can't do it even when we're on opposite sides on Tv." She said before she turned to leave, Phil gripping her by her right wrist._

" _You better reconsider what you just said, Mandy… or it won't just be on screen that we're on opposite sides!" Phil growled._

" _I'm not gonna reconsider it and you can't force me to!" Amanda responded after slapping him across the face. "I'm gonna damn well stand on my own… and hell, if you're gonna really criticize me for the occasional glass of wine, just remember that I know my limits and people use different ways to calm their nerves." She said before heading off further into the arena and finding herself leaning against the wall… only for a tall shadow to nearly eclipse her and her turning and seeing Adam, who rested his left hand on her right side… before seeing that her wrist was bruising._

" _What happened, kiddo?" Adam asked._

" _Phil nearly dislocated my shoulder after I told him that his storyline creeps me out and I want no further involvement in it." Amanda responded, Adam carefully pulling her into a hug._

" _You're away from it now, that's the main thing. Those who won't accept your happiness… They're not worth keeping around." Adam replied a few moments after._

" _They're not… I'd rather be in a storyline of my own, as a character who can stand on her own but they don't think I'm ready. They're thinking of signing someone in a few months and within another year or two, putting him and me in a storyline, whoever he is." Amanda said before both saw a tall man with long dark hair walk over._

" _This the little lady you wanted me to meet?" He asked, Adam nodding as he and Amanda let go._

" _Mandy, this is Seth. Seth, this is my friend Mandy." Adam responded as Amanda and Seth shook hands and Seth cringed when he saw the bruises on her wrist._

" _You have been through a good amount of hell, haven't you?" Seth questioned once their hands let go._

" _Damn, just meeting each other and you're good at figuring that out." Amanda responded before the two laughed._

" _You two have fun. And take this with you." Adam said, handing a fake ID to Amanda before she and Seth headed down the hall._

" _How old are you?" Seth asked._

" _19." Amanda answered, which made Seth's eyes widen…_

 **Present time…**

"You know, sometimes I wonder… if there could've been more than friendship between Seth and me back then. Don't know why…" Amanda said quietly.

"We all imagine how things could play out… It could've happened, I suppose it was the Shield making you more like siblings which prevented it in the end." Finn replied.

"We fell into that routine… and then it fell out from under us." Amanda responded, both also watching _M*A*S*H_ and Amanda trying not to cry when Margaret started to get upset about her husband getting himself transferred. "Damn… this one as well as when that dog gets run over and the one where the plane crashes into the sea of Japan always gets me tearing up." She said quietly before both heard someone hitting their fist against the wall and realising that a still drunk Dean was awake.

"And there goes a peaceful morning." Finn muttered, rubbing his eyes as he knew it probably wouldn't be long now before they had to get up.

"Screw your peaceful morning!" Dean responded in a slurry tone, Renee guiding him back to the bed.

"Babe, you need to sleep it off." Renee said, Dean wrapping his arms around her and pulling her on top of him before resting a hand on her ass and squeezing it. "Dean, not the time!" She scolded playfully as he flashed a lopsided smile.

"She'll be alright, she's got him by her side." Dean said.

At the same time, Wheatley's optic widened a bit when he heard their voices.

"Strange and feisty, you humans get… Never quite understood it." Wheatley said, his optic guards wide but his optic light narrowing halfway as he picked up the sound of a softened impact on the wall, and began to work out what was going on.

Having gotten ready for the day, Finn and Amanda headed down the hallway when they stopped as a door opened and saw Enzo.

"Morning, Enzo." Amanda greeted as the two hugged… and Amanda jumping as she saw Wheatley, who scanned her with the optic.

"Wheatley, you're scaring her." Chell said after sitting up.

' _I've been on the road for the majority of a decade and had thought I'd seen everything… this world never ceases to confuse me.'_ Amanda thought, Finn resting his right hand on her lower back.

The two had a feeling that this would be a crazy tour.


	4. Unrepressed

Liv Morgan wasn't typically the kind of person to apologize under any circumstances… and when she saw Amanda and Finn, her eyes narrowed at them.

Finn had his right arm around Amanda's back when he noticed that she was still tired, leaning her against him… to Liv, it looked like it was too close of a friendship and it made her angry.

"Behave yourself." Carmella said quietly, Liv turning back to her.

"No damn promises." Liv muttered in response.

"Liv, you could've damaged her spine!" Carmella hissed.

"Could've wasn't good enough!" Liv shouted in response.

Amanda turned incensed, Finn hanging onto her to keep her from charging at Liv.

"You might want the fight but the results and repercussions aren't worth the trouble, Darlin'." Finn said as he held her back.

"You're right about that." Amanda responded, her face a bit red from anger before they saw Enzo, Chell and Wheatley. "I thought you three stayed up in the room." She said.

"This one was starting to get a bit of cabin fever." Chell replied, pointing to Enzo.

"Hey, I don't like staying in the same room for too long, the view gets boring!" Enzo said in response.

"Me either, honestly, which is why I'm really starting to miss my management rail." Wheatley responded.

"Is there any way we can build one?" Enzo asked after setting Wheatley on a table and sitting down, his back starting to ache.

"Well, I can easily be wired up to some sort of monitor and send the blueprint specs and that of the rails and connectors to me, but getting hold of those metals… thinking about it, might be a bit of a job, plus management rails are meant to be stationary themselves, bolted solid into the ceilings but with you on the road all the time… I don't know, maybe we could work something out." Wheatley replied, knowing that they had a long day ahead.

 _ **9/21/15…**_

The group ended up at the Laredo Energy Arena for the Raw event, Amanda knowing that she had to be pulled from tonight's match and was only at the arena out of habit, the group having spent the majority of yesterday having kept Wheatley hidden… feeling a hand on her shoulder, Amanda turned and had to look up, seeing Braun Strowman.

"Hey…" Amanda responded, Braun noticing how pale she looked.

"You look like hell, kid." Braun replied.

"Back's still hurting… you know, sometimes I wish I could face someone who takes the necessary precautions in that ring to protect the head and spine." Amanda said, Braun knowing that she was jumping at the chance to confront Liv.

"Western hallway and don't break anything." Braun replied before the two hugged for a few seconds and she pulled Finn's jacket onto her.

"I owe you one." Amanda responded before kissing Braun on his jaw and leaving.

Amanda headed further into the arena and heard Liv's voice as she reached the hallway… but she also heard Enzo's.

"You! Start talking, now!" Liv growled.

"I swear, Mandy's just a friend. And besides, I'm sure she's got her eye on Balor." Enzo explained.

"Then why the fuck have you been ignoring my calls?! Mandy's injuries aren't that serious!" Liv responded angrily.

"Well, Carmella said earlier that you showed no remorse! And Mandy seems to think that you never liked her, trying to snap someone's spine will give off that assumption!" Enzo replied, unable to hold it back anymore.

"Well being and doing what she is will make someone do that! If you know it all so much, you tell me which comes first!" Liv shouted in response.

"She's a human being, Liv! You don't think she feels pain when someone hurts her?!" Enzo yelled.

"Oh, I'm sure Finn could make all of that go away by consoling her in his bed a few times!" Liv shouted.

Amanda was about to walk over when she felt a hand wrap around her right wrist, turned and saw Hunter.

"Trust me… she'll be dealt with." Hunter said after Amanda turned to him.

"It just… I thought I could trust her to be a friend…" Amanda responded before Hunter pulled her into his arms, the two holding each other.

"I thought so too… which is why I'm starting to think that behind it, something else is wrong." Hunter replied as his hand lightly rubbed around her lower back, careful to not aggravate the injury.

"I thought the same thing…" Amanda said as they looked at each other and he brushed her tears away. "I feel like I'm losing more friends, Hunter." She replied as he kissed her on her forehead before they let go.

"Hey, we need to talk about the match before Raw... goes on the air." Both heard, seeing Cody, Viktor and Konnor, the three noticing Amanda.

"Guys, now's not a good time." Hunter explained.

"I'll… I'll be okay." Amanda responded before leaving.

"She's really upset… maybe she shouldn't be out there right away." Viktor said, Cody looking right at him. "What's that look for, you think she's holding something back?" He asked.

"I don't just think, I don't doubt." Cody answered.

Amanda reached a corridor and stopped when _You're Gonna Pay_ by Jim Johnston played from her Samsung Galaxy S6 and she answered the call.

"Damn, I can't believe you have that as the ringtone for me." Mark Callaway, better known to the wrestling world as The Undertaker, responded jokingly.

"Out of all your wrestling personas, Big Evil is my favorite… especially when you would ride a motorcycle to the ring." Amanda replied… but it was easy from her voice for Mark to tell that she was exhausted.

"Sounds like it's been quite busy for you lately." Mark said after a short laugh.

"Took a stiff dropkick to the back… no spinal damage, just bruised and cracked a few ribs. Then met someone who… in all honesty, looked like she was tortured within an inch of her life and lost a friend that I never really had a genuine friendship to begin with..." Amanda explained… and the more she explained, the more that the man that had been one of the ones that helped her get started in the business became concerned when she started to ramble to the point of tears.

"I… I just feel like I woke up one morning and one friend would turn against me, then another and another and she's so damn lost, the poor woman!" Amanda said through her tears, Mark turning from the man fans saw in the ring into the man who thought of her as his niece.

"Those who are true friends wouldn't stab you in the back and then try to make it your fault, you didn't cause their anger. They made those choices on their own, kiddo, not you. As for the woman who's been through hell, you stay near her because she really sounds like she needs someone right now." Mark responded in a soothing tone, Amanda taking deep breaths to calm down. "And I'd say go grab a cold beer to help but Hunter wouldn't want you drunk on Tv." He said jokingly, Amanda letting a slight laugh out.

"I'm gonna go splash some cold water on my face instead and fix myself up." Amanda replied.

"That a girl… hey, stay by that boy as well, he's good for ya." Mark said.

"I will, Mark. Love ya." Amanda responded.

"Love ya too, kiddo." Mark replied before they hung up.

Amanda headed down the corridor and into hers and Finn's locker room, where she found him and Shawn talking. She gave a quick nod and headed towards the restroom, both having noticed her tearstained face and Shawn stopping her.

"I take it there was still no apology?" Shawn asked, Amanda nodding before the two hugged for a few minutes and Shawn letting Finn and Amanda hold each other.

Shawn let the two be alone and went to go find Hunter, hoping to find out what had happened.


	5. Unrestrained

**A/N: Finally back to updating this one after getting rid of the writer's block. Enjoy. :)**

 _ **8/25/15, after SmackDown and NXT tapings…**_

' _Well fuck…' Amanda thought after reaching the hotel room and hearing Dean and Roman arguing drunkenly before having to jump back as Dean stormed out and down the hall._

" _Don't come crying to me when Renee tosses you out on your ass!" Roman yelled out the door._

" _I'll sleep in the damn rental car if I have to!" Dean shouted before disappearing into the elevator, Amanda grabbing what she could and packing them up as Roman tried to stop her._

" _Mandy, please stay! It was just a little fight between friends!" Roman begged as Amanda headed out the door with her duffel bag before turning around._

" _I can't crash with you guys when you're drunk… call Seth if you want a roommate." Amanda responded before heading down the hallway._

 _She had gotten out of the elevator and would've headed to the front desk had it not been for the nearby door opening and her seeing Sami._

" _Told ya I heard someone out here!" Sami said into the room before lightly grabbing Amanda by her right wrist and led her into the room before closing and locking the door… the last thing Amanda thought that she'd see this late was a lego house on the floor but the second Finn saw her, he stopped building it and stood up, walking over and the two hugging._

" _So sick of them fighting like that… they'll be over it by morning, friends usually are but I just didn't feel like hearing it tonight." Amanda said quietly as they let go and Finn's hands resting on her shoulders._

" _Can't blame you one bit, people get out of control at times." Finn responded after setting Amanda's duffel bag on the bed before she and Sami hugged._

" _Yes they do and I am gonna go crash out in my own room… these walls are thin, try not to make too much noise when you get at it." Sami replied, the last part jokingly and Amanda swatting him before Sami walked to the adjoining door and opened it, walking into his own room and closing the door… and Amanda seeing that Sami had dropped off Finn's duffel bag, having accidentally grabbed it after leaving instead of his own._

 _Finn disassembled his Legos as Amanda took her makeup off with a Neutrogena Makeup Remover wipe before tossing it in the small trashcan and closing the pack of wipes before putting it away… and Finn seeing the expression on her face change._

" _Was in such a rush to get out of there that I…" Amanda said, trailing off when she saw Finn grab the white shirt he had worn during the promo before NXT: TakeOver: Brooklyn and hand it to her before turning around as she stripped down to her hiphugger panties before putting the shirt on, putting her own clothes away and climbing into the bed._

 _Finn took his own clothes off, leaving him in his light blue boxers as he climbed into the bed with Amanda and reached his left hand over to brush her hair back._

" _If I have to put up with one more fight between them, I'm gonna lose my fucking mind… as much as I care about those guys, I just need a break from them." Amanda whispered before giving into sleep, Finn kissing her on her forehead before closing his eyes._

' _We all just need a bit of quiet time…' Finn thought before drifting off into sleep._

 _It was early the next morning that Finn opened his eyes and saw Amanda was curled up closer to him, her right leg resting over his left one and her head resting on his right shoulder._

 _Finn lightly brushed Amanda's hair back and kissed her on her forehead before he closed his own eyes, falling back asleep._

 _He didn't see any reason to wake her right away…_

 **Present time,** _ **9/21/15**_ **…**

Wheatley's optic lens extended and Chell looked up.

"Something wrong?" Chell asked.

"I think… she's not keeping it bottled up anymore." Wheatley explained.

Amanda found herself in Finn's arms, the two stretched out on the couch in their locker room and her explaining what she overheard.

"It sounds like she thinks Enzo's being unfaithful but won't outright say it to him." Finn replied as his right hand rested on Amanda's lower back.

"She needs to tell him instead of taking her anger out on us." Amanda responded.

Amanda had to figure it all out before she actually could confront Liv.

 _ **A few days later, 9/25/15…**_

 _Great Train Robbery_ by Black Uhuru played through her earbuds as Amanda, with a new shoulder length haircut, was in the middle of her workout at the Performance Centre.

Wheatley seemed fascinated by the workout equipment and Chell, thanks to Bayley, was learning how to protect herself.

"And don't let me get my gun cause it's gonna be hell up in Harlem..." Amanda sang quietly.

Finn smiled slightly and turned back to his workout… until he saw a familiar blonde.

"Cute, huh, you two giving subtle hints to each other?" Liv replied in a tone of phony niceness.

"Liv, you have problems with your boyfriend's friendship with Dianne so I suggest talking to Enzo about it and not taking it out on us." Finn replied, Liv's demeanour changing.

"Not taking it out on you?! What, when you're going after a girl who looks barely legal-" Liv shouted before she felt the air being driven out of her lungs and fell.

Liv coughed and then felt her jaw being gripped before she was forced to look into Amanda's eyes.

"As my Demon told you… talk to Enzo about it. Because the next time you run your fucking mouth, bitch, I won't be so merciful! Are we clear?" Amanda responded in a threatening tone.

She either hadn't been aware of the words slipping out or her vulgar mouth but Finn was and couldn't help his face turning a light red.

' _Okay, that's…'_ Finn thought before he decided to pull Amanda away from Liv, who pulled herself up and limped off.

"Someone had to put the little hellion in her place… are you alright?" Amanda responded, noticing Finn's slightly reddened face.

"Yeah… just a bit taken aback by what you called me." Finn replied, Amanda's face now turning a light red as she realised what he meant.

' _What am I fucking thinking?! I can't act like a horny schoolgirl! Stop being bad around him, Mandy!'_ Amanda thought, scolding herself mentally. "Sorry… things slip out." She responded, now thoroughly embarrassed and Finn resting his hands on her shoulders as he knew it wasn't intentional.

"It's okay, Darlin'." Finn replied.

"Any idea how Chell is doing?" Amanda asked as they calmed down, neither of them having seen Chell for a while.

"Let's go check." Finn answered before they headed towards the practice ring… and saw that Chell had Bayley in a headlock until Chell let go.

"You alright?" Chell asked, Bayley nodding.

"You're doing a great job, remembering not to twist the neck in any painful way." Bayley responded, Chell smiling.

Chell could sense the quietness between Finn and Amanda… but she could tell it wasn't a bad kind of quiet, just that they had a lot on their minds.


	6. It's Dark Inside

_**WWE Fastlane 2015, 20 minutes after six man tag…**_

 _"Hey… that was great out there." Seth heard before he saw Amanda walk over… she reached out to hug him but stopped when he lightly pressed his fingers into her collarbone. "Okay, that's not like you at all… what's going on here, Seth?" The 24 year old diva responded._

 _"Nothing." Seth answered and turned to leave… he reached the edge of the hallway when he heard "You know, I'm getting really sick of this, Rollins!" and turned back, walking to Amanda._

 _"What did you just say to me?!" Seth demanded._

 _"Ignoring me! Lately, you've treated me like we barely know each other and that's when you're not taking your temper out on me and treating me like I betrayed you… and you damn well don't care but that hurts me, Seth. What did I do wrong?" Amanda responded, Seth slamming the Money In The Bank briefcase down in rage and muttering a name under his breath… but Amanda heard it. "He is my friend but the Demon King and Demon Mistress thing, it's just a storyline, Seth. Just like The Shield splitting apart was for the cameras, it shouldn't affect us backstage!" She said, Seth turning away from her._

" _You keep telling yourself it's just an innocent friendship, when does the lying stop?!" Seth responded angrily… and Amanda could no longer hold back._

" _Calling me a liar. That's what it is, you're angry… I'm not really surprised with what I heard just leave the mouth of the guy who cheated on his fiancee! Hell if your affair was never exposed, you would've kept lying to Leighla!" Amanda responded._

" _That's what you think, I'm just angry because things fell apart?! Before we know it, you and Balor will be in the same bed and room, you'll be walking out into the arena hand in hand, leg up and lips together and it will be far from 'just an act'!" Seth said, his temper completely taking over._

" _Well when it's far from just an act, it'll at least be honest! I bet you sleeping with Zahra is far from the first time you cheated on the so called love of your life!" Amanda responded, Seth backhanding her._

" _Watch your fucking mouth, you little bitch!" Seth yelled, Amanda hauling off and punching Seth right in the nose... it evoked a scream and he stumbled back, hands over his bleeding nose before Amanda took the briefcase and whacked Seth over the head with it._

 _Seth fell to the floor, hitting his head again and rendering himself unconscious… and Amanda dropped the briefcase and stormed off…_

 **Present time,** _ **9/25/15**_ **…**

 _Stayin' Alive_ by Capital Cities played through Amanda's earbuds as they were back home, Amanda cleaned off and in a white loose fitting racerback tank top and black and grey leopard print jogger pajama pants.

Her back still ached a bit and thanks to her kicking Liv, Amanda had twisted her left ankle, having used her left ankle to brace herself from falling as she had kicked Liv with her right foot… but she put the pain out of her mind, having felt better that she had told Liv off.

She hadn't meant the suggestive innuendo towards Finn but she knew the reaction it had gotten from him earlier when she had called him _"My Demon."_... and though they brushed it off, Amanda had been thinking.

 _Demons_ by Imagine Dragons played, Amanda smiling slightly… and then she felt Finn's arms wrap around her shoulders, turned the music off and set her earbuds aside and phone in her pocket after closing out Spotify.

"You okay there, lass?" Finn questioned, seeing how Amanda was stood.

"I used my left foot to keep myself from falling earlier when I kicked Liv down… and twisted it." Amanda admitted, Finn helping her sit down on the bed and pulling the pant leg up before he sat down.

Placing Amanda's injured ankle on his lap, Finn lightly massaged it… he knew that Amanda didn't use ice packs unless she felt it was necessary, mostly because of how sensitive her skin was to the cold, which sometimes made injuries feel worse.

"Better?" Finn replied.

"Much better… thank you." Amanda responded before Finn helped her stand up and pulled the back of her tank up somewhat.

The bruises on Amanda's back hadn't begun to fade yet but Finn knew that with an injury like that, it could take time.

"Still looks bad?" Amanda asked after readjusting her top.

"It'll heal, don't worry." Finn replied, lightly brushing Amanda's hair back and tucking some of it behind her left ear before he rested his right hand on her left side… before Amanda heard her tablet chime and picked it up, glancing at Finn before answering the video call from Shawn.

"Hey, you two. Hunter told me about the fight at the Performance Centre." Shawn replied.

"Aw, damn." Amanda muttered.

"Now don't worry, you're not in trouble. But you two as well as your friends look like you could all use a break… yes, that includes the talking silver and blue ball or whatever he is." Shawn replied, Amanda and Finn turning startled.

"How'd you find out about Wheatley?" Amanda asked.

"Hunter told me about him as well as Chell. Don't worry, I'm good about keeping secrets. Except the time I told you about the Little People's Court segment involving me, Hunter and Hornswoggle two weeks ahead of schedule when Hunter explicitly told me to keep my mouth shut to anyone about it… this is different this time so I'll keep my mouth shut about it, I promise." Shawn explained before the video call ended and Amanda set the tablet down.

"Little People's Court… and how old were you then?" Finn replied as they stretched out on the bed and held each other.

"19… some of my early years in the business were better than others." Amanda responded, Finn lightly trailing the fingers on his left hand through Amanda's hair… and saw the scar just under her right shoulder blade.

' _Damn right they weren't…'_ Finn thought.

 _ **9/26/15…**_

The flight to San Antonio had been quiet, Finn driving the rented Equinox with Dianne and Enzo asleep in the backseat and Chell and Wheatley seated in the middle seat as Amanda was in the passenger side seat.

 _She's Mine_ by Steve Perry played on the radio at a low volume… and Finn rested his right hand on Amanda's left forearm as Wheatley scanned the area they were driving through.

"Is everything okay, Wheatley?" Amanda asked as Wheatley focused on Amanda's phone.

"Don't answer that yourself, Amanda." Wheatley replied before _Living After Midnight_ by Judas Priest played, Amanda seeing that once again, it was Seth.

He had called repeatedly after finding out about the incident at the Performance Centre… Amanda just didn't feel like being yelled at but Seth wasn't taking the hint.

"Hand it over, lass." Finn replied after parking in the driveway of Shawn and Rebecca's home before Amanda handed her Samsung Galaxy S6 to him, Finn answering it. "I'll put this simply, all she and I want is some time to relax and we do not need your permission to leave your sight… can you stop being a fucking pest for once and give me and Mandy some space?" He responded before Seth hung up… and Finn handed the phone back to Amanda.

Amanda let a slight smile appear before she leaned over and kissed Finn on his jaw as Dianne and Enzo had woken up.

"Seth again?" Enzo asked as Amanda blocked Seth's number.

"Yeah. Come on, let's head into the house." Amanda responded before they got out and she and Rebecca hugged.

"I've gotta go pick up the kids from school but… I'll be right back." Rebecca replied before her words trailed off for a bit as she saw Finn for the first time.

Finn smiled kindly as he approached, holding his and Amanda's duffel bags.

But Rebecca was hesitant as she did not know the man who had showed up here with the girl she and Shawn thought of as a daughter.


End file.
